Six Flags Power Plant was an indoor Six Flags theme park in Baltimore, Maryland, located within the retired Pratt Street Power Plant at the inner harbor.[1]
History[]
Six Flags had decided they needed to be in the new “UEC” (“Urban Entertainment Center”) business to diversify out from being simply “ride parks.” They had done a ton of studies and decided that they would create new “entertainment centers” in the heart of cities, offering families a new kind of experience, but one that built upon the Six Flags brand. ERA (Economic Research Associates) had done a report looking at potential sites throughout the country and one among them stood out: The Baltimore Power Plant, which was located on the newly redeveloped Inner Harbor, which had something like 12,000,000 annual visits. The concept was to create an urban entertainment complex that would offer food, retail and entertainment experiences.
They went to Jon Jerde, an up and coming architect who had been one of the architects who worked on the recently opened Harbor Plaza in San Diego, for the initial concept. John had created a kind of contemporary “retail mall” that existed within the huge Power Plant facility, but Six Flags (and ERA) felt more entertainment was needed.[2]
- “We had just finished doing The Monster Plantation for Six Flags Over Georgia and The Great Texas Longhorn Revue for Six Flags Astroworld. Both had been highly successful, so Six Flags called us in to take a look at what they were calling Six Flags’ Power Plant. They showed us the basic idea, a set of bars and restaurants and shops, set within the giant interior space of the Six Flags Power Plant.
- We initially started coming up with ideas for shows and attractions, but then we got this idea of a “GRAND HALL” entryway, playing up the Victorian Industrial era and everyone liked the vision for the place and that kind of set a new direction from Jerde’s concept. We pitched the idea of this incredible place that was built long ago and had remained hidden within the locked up Power Plant.
- We created a character Professor Phineas T. Flagg who was a combination of Jules Verne, H.G. Welles, and P.T. Barnum, who was a scientist, explorer, writer, inventor and showman of the first degree. He was to be a character that would represent the best part of all of us: imagination, positive thinking, creativity and curiosity, which are all the attributes that move us forward and into the future.”[2][3]
Closure[]
According to the architects, a Six Flags executive insisted on a mandate “THERE WILL BE NO RIDES IN THE POWER PLANT” that doomed the project to failure. The designers were forced to accommodate walk-through attractions within the tight interior spaces, despite warnings from Disney imagineers that they would not work. The management team also did not initiate planning for the opening of the Power Plant until the last minute. After the opening was met by poor attendance, Six Flags management had considered suing the design company until discovering that the mandate to develop no rides had originated from within Six Flags management.[4]
Portrayal[]
According to ex-Imagineer Eddie Sotto, the character of Phineas Flagg was portrayed by actor Jack Axelrod.
Location[]
Attractions[]
To be added
Gallery[]
Guide Maps[]
Misc.[]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Six Flags Power Plant Part 1: An Experiment In Baltimore by Josh Young, Theme Park University. 2014-12-10. Archived 2015-03-18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Six Flags Power Plant 2: Not An Amusement Park by Josh Young, Theme Park University. 2014-12-11. Archived 2015-03-18.
- ↑ Six Flags Power Plant 4: Concept Art by Josh Young, Theme Park University. 2014-12-15. Archived 2015-03-18.
- ↑ Six Flags Power Plant 3: Why It Closed by Josh Young, Theme Park University. 2014-12-12. Archived 2015-03-18.
External links[]
- Power Plant Live! official page at Visit Baltimore
- Six Flags Power Plant at Technifex
- Six Flags Power Plant at Wikipedia (archived 2019-03-27)
Articles[]
- Exploring the Remains of Baltimore’s Six Flags Power Plant by Leoanrd Kinsey at Baltimore Post-Examiner (2017-08-17)